The Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe, has lamented the growing insecurity and prevailing economic hardship in Nigeria.
He noted that in the last 12 months, the country has been marked by uncertainties and hikes in the cost of living.
Achebe, a first-class monarch, noted that Nigeria is declining under the watch of the present administration of President Bola Tinubu, saying that urgent and critical steps needed to be taken to reverse the decline to avoid a catastrophe.
The monarch stated this during the celebration of the 2024 Ofala festival held in Onitsha on Friday.
During the festival themed ‘courage, perseverance, and self-reliance,’ the monarch acknowledged the prevailing hardship in the country while empathising and encouraging all Nigerians to wade through with determination and perseverance.
He said, “At Ofala last year, I stated that the previous 12 months were marked by uncertainties occasioned by the aftermath of the general elections, further exacerbated by the continuing insecurity and effects of the sudden removal of the fuel subsidy.
Unfortunately, the wellbeing of the polity has declined even more steeply in the last 12 months, leading to a 10-day national protest in August 2024, tagged ‘#Endbadgovernance’. The two areas of most concern are the economy and security.
“Their combined effects are the spiralling rise in the cost of living, business closures, loss of employment, general feeling of hopelessness, and lack of trust in the government.
“Meanwhile, Mr President has been assuring the nation about the efficacy of his ‘very bold and unprecedented decisions’, even as petrol prices are skyrocketing, the naira is a free-for-all, and the leaders of the #Endbadgovernance are being prosecuted for treason for expressing their constitutional right to protest.”
The monarch urged President Bola Tinubu to consider alternative views and urgently convene a non-partisan national economic and security summit to forge a collective way forward for the country.
He said, “Several individuals and organisations have variously drawn the attention of the Federal Government to the looming catastrophe if no constructive action is taken to reverse the decline.
“They have urged the government to give urgent attention to its fundamental constitutional responsibility. Some of the specific views put forward include devolution and downsizing of governance, thus the nexus between insecurity, agriculture and high cost of living: the impact of fuel prices on the cost of living, bad governance driven by corruption and the ostentatious lifestyle of political leaders.”
Achebe also decried the wanton destruction of lives and properties by rampaging gunmen in the Southeast with little or no attention given to it by relevant authorities.
He said, “In the South-East, we still face the unrelenting scourge of the unknown gunmen who kill, maim and kidnap their fellow Ndigbo for money. Schools, markets, and public facilities have remained closed on Mondays at enormous economic and social costs to Ndigbo.
“Armed criminal activities in the community increased drastically in August 2024. The most pressing challenge we faced in the last 12 months remained inadequate funding for our two vigilante teams.”
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyer